Newcastle Now Linked With Costa Rican International Striker

Written by Dr. Ed Harrison

11:39pm Monday, March 31st, 2014

Commented 28 times

Newcastle are going to be linked with many strikers in the summer, and the reports of strikers we are supposed to be interested in have already started, and that’s hardly surprising since Newcastle will have to sign maybe three strikers this summer, so we assume the club have a number of targets already lined up for the summer.

Joel Campbell – Arsenal and Costa Rica striker The latest reports are now linking Newcastle with 21 year-old Costa Rican International forward Joel Campbell, who was signed by Arsenal in August of 2011, but he failed to get a work permit to play in England, and so was sent out on loan to French club Lorient for that season.

The next season he was sent on loan to Spanish club Real Betis, and this season he ended up on loan at top Greek club Olympiacos, although last summer he eventually gained a work permit to play in England.

While at Lorient he scored three goals in 25 appearances, and in Spain at Real Betis he scored two goals in 32 appearances.

However this season he has been in decent goal-scoring form, and for Olympiacos he has 8 goals in 29 appearances and he doesn’t turn 22 until June.

Campbell has said this about his time at Arsenal, and he has yet to play for the first team at the London club:

“I don’t know what will happen with Arsenal, I have two years eft of my contract and they’ll decide what will happen.”

It’s difficult to know whether these reports linking Campbell with Newcastle are true or just made up, because people know Newcastle need to bring in quite a few strikers over the summer.

But it could be that Newcastle try to get at least one striker in on a season long loan deal, but the problem with that is if they are successful, they will likely be targeted by bigger clubs next summer.

That’s what happened with Loic Remy, and although he has had a great season on Tyneside, he will be signing for a bigger club in the summer.

Campbell has 31 caps for Costa Rica and 9 international goals, and he can play as an out-and-out striker or on the wing.

It’s difficult to know just how good Joel Campbell is, but he could be a loan target for Newcastle – depending on how things go with some of our other strike targets.

We suppose we should add this youngster to the growing list of strikers Newcastle are supposed to be interested in this summer.

Sunderland have a horror run in don’t they and basically down, even so, what odds they pick up more points than us in the run in. Good I’d suggest, and also that last fixture at Liverpool has all the hallmarks of a bloodbath about it. Lambs to the slaughter. I know we have a laundry list of issues, but I don’t believe I’ve ever known a situation were a club was safe by January with no chance of achieving anything more and then sell their playmaker. You wouldn’t need to be Brains Benton to predict such lacklustre outcomes. Season can’t end soon enough.

I looked at Pardews record since his appointment in December 210 up until last weekend.

n he league, his stats read:

Played 130, Won 50, Drawn 29, Lost 51, Goals for 171, goals against 198, pojnts won out of a possible 390, 179

That is a win record of 38.5% and a points % of 45.9%

In cups, his record reads: Played 27, won 10, drawn 7, lost 10, goals for 30, goals against 31

Overall, his record is played 157, Won 60, Dawn 36, Lost 61, goals for 201, goals against 229

His win record overall is 38.2%.

In the league, when checking the defeatsa, the number of hammerings are so obvious over this period such as at Spurs 0-5, Stoke 0-4, Man City (2) 0-4, Liverool 0-6, Sunderland (2) 0-3, Spurs 0-4, Everton 0-3, Chelsea 0-3, Southampton 0-4 to name just some.

In the cup, the results were bolstered by a good run in the Europa cup but it doesn’t take away the fact that we have lost to lower opposition in the FA Cup 4 years in a row at Stevenage, Brighton twice and Cardiff.

I seem to remember Pardew admitting some time ago that he himself coaches the defence on at least 4 occasions per week at training. The fact that we have conceded so many more goals leads one to think that he is not doing a particularly good job of it.

Naturally, he will point to injuries to key players, lack of signings and the sale of key players as te reasoning behind these performances but it tells me that it goes a lot deeper than that.

It is evident Ashley has no intention of getting rid of this manager so we are stuck with him. So, what needs to be done?

Here are my thoughts:

1. Clearly, Pardew needs specialist assistasnce of a defensive modern day coach. possibly from overseas.

2. He also needs a specialist modern day tactician to assist him. As it would seem that Pardew is taking over some of the duties of the DOF in the future, it would be wise for the club to take some of the load of him on the training field.

3. Ashley clearly wants to bring players through from the academy which is good, if they are ready. Now that we have category A status, we should be looking to poach a European specialist from the likes of Ajax, Bayern or Barca to establish, manage and coordinate the effective and efficient running of the academy. Ashley also needs to understand the current crop are notready and need to be farmed out to higher placed teams at home and abroad rather than the Rotherhams and Dundee Uniteds of this world.

4. A total change in communication to the fans is warranted. Appoint someone who can talk honestly regarding the running of the club, the board’s insight for the future and take on board relevant fan feedback rather than spouting the usual bullshit and banning various organisations from SJP just because they don’t agree with club policy. Time to grow up, Mr. Ashley. Even if the news is bad, supporters will understand and respect you for at least communicating honestly.

There are many more things I could mention but these are the main points as I see it. I apologise for the length of this post.

Totally agree with the fact some of the academy players need to be showing their worth now. With a lot of players looking to be shifted in the summer, having some of the younger lads ready to step up would be a huge bonus. But a lot of the current loaned out players don’t seem to be doing particularly great though, which is worrying as none of them play in a league which come even close to the prem.

Newcastle aren’t a global brand and bar throwing hundreds of millions at it, never will be, and even then probably not. There’s little reason to be passionate about Newcastle unless you’re a Geordie, and I suspect this is another thing Ashley failed to grasp when he bought the club. Our current transfer policy, as well as developing the academy and coaching set up is probably our only realistic way forward under an owner who doesn’t want to put his own money in. I don’t know if Ashley has this in mind or is even capable, but I think it’s our only genuine hope.

I’m fairly certain less than a month ago Wenger said Campbell will be part of his first team squad next season, he will probably replace Bendtner as a squad player.

Given our desire to only sign value or bargains then the academy is the key part of making this competitive. Good that they finally announced Category 1 status. Now let’s start to improve the coaching set up to give the kids, many of whom are regular youth internationals, a fighting chance of progressing sufficiently to feature and do well at Prem level.

As for how well they do on loan, and at what level, I real don’t mind if they struggle a bit. Carroll was awful at Preston, but the experience did him enough good to come back and do well for us. It isn’t just the performances that we need to look for, although that only really counts for those on first or second loans. People like Tav, Ferg, Newton and to marginally lesser extent due to injuries, Vuckic should be performing to a good level.

Lil, I know you are involved in youth football therefore in a position to judge players ability, is it possible for someone like Fergie who can’t make the bench at Birmingham to return to his parent club and make an impression in the Prem.

Jail, To be honest, I haven’t really rated Fergie as a Prem player ever. I’m not entirely sure what has been going on this season for him, whether it is an attitude issue or he is actually performing worse than a struggling Championship teams left back and left winger. Haven’t seen any of his play this year to judge fairly.

I would have expected him to have been doing a lot more on loan than he is though. I think he has 2 more years left on his deal here, so depending on how summer transfers go he could well be involved for us next year. If we get sufficient players in, I’d expect him to be on loan again next year, maybe at a League 1 side, or a struggling Championship outfit again.

As an example of players struggling on loan going on to do well, Ross Barkley struggled at Leeds in the second half of last season, and look at him now.

Lil, I’m off to Singapore today, so fortunately I’ll miss most of the rest of this season, the end really can’t come quick enough. Did you see the stats expat mag posted on Pardews reign, it’s scary that he’s here with his boss for another six years.

Jail, Tav has done okay at League 1 level, I’d say the biggest issue for him would be that full backs aren’t as desirable outside of the top flight. In the modern game they are probably one of the most influential positions at top level, good full backs are solid and contribute far more to the attack then in the past. At Championship level and lower they don’t carry that sort of influence, people much prefer a solid no nonsense full back and as such generally wouldn’t look at loaning a full back, when a midfielder/winger/striker could have a far greater impact.

You need to find a CC team with a very progressive coach, wanting to play progressive football, but more often then not, they already have a player for those roles, or sign someone permanently.

Vuckic is a really difficult one to assess. All the talent in the world, and was so highly thought of. Has had a really tough time with injuries, and he looks much slower nowadays then he did when he first arrived at the club. I guess all those injuries take their toll. He is still a very clever footballer, but I doubt he can handle the physical side of English lower leagues hence him struggling to make an impact in League 1. He should have been marketed abroad, and looked for a decent Belgian/Greek/French side where he can develop his technical aspects with less of the physical focus.

I guess the thinking was to toughen him up, but it seems to have backfired and another season of stalled development.

Jail, It is a blessing missing the rest of the season! Man U at home, Arsenal and Liverpool away….. I dread to think how badly that Anfield trip could go, particularly if they are still in with a shot at the title on the last day!!

His total reign has been pretty terrible, but the last 14 matches have been the lowest point. 13 points from 14 league games, a cup defeat in there as well. Failed to score in 7 of the last 10, conceded 3 or more in 5 of the last 9. Shocking stats.

This season has sort of been a microcosm of his time here before this season; an average start, a good spell, then a complete collapse.

Mindshaft, He is playing in a team that are doing very well in the league. Time is fast running out for him to prove himself here. If Debuchy left I’m not sure I would have sufficient confidence in him to be the replacement. Certainly has done enough to deserve a chance, in the same way Dummet has had this year.

Wandering, You seem, from what I remember to be fairly clued up on Argentinian football, how is the young San Lorenzo attacker doing? Has anything been agreed for him to move away, or could he be a potential makeweight if Colo is still set on heading home?

Rotonda, How anyone can look at our run of form since the turn of the year and be okay with it is well beyond my capabilities for comprehension! It has been worse than last season, and even the relegation season for most of that time!

Being linked with all these players,total crap trying to to rekindle disgruntled fans interest to sell seats. The normal never say die fans will believe the crap and turn out ib their thousands in hoe they are going to deliver success. Must be the easiest club in the world to make money from if you are a hard faced business man like the fatman who has no interest in bringing success to our team. Roll up and get your tickets i will do you a good deal and bring you nowt but heartache.

health update

My latest checkup was yesteday and after a battery of tests the results show the cancer remains stabilized and has not spread further.

Some background - I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in February 2017 after being in remission for six years. and I completed four months of intense chemotherapy in late July.

The cancer metastasized through the bones and one treatment available I am undergoing is hormone treatment.

There is no cure for Stage 4 cancer and I will continue to have exhaustive blood tests about every three months and CAT-scans and bone-scans when necessary.

I will do my best under the circumstances and I take this as another challenge - a big one.

Ed Harrison

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